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In April of 2012, I sold my car, and it has been the best decision of my life. I have never walked so much in my life, and I love public transportation and cycling. It allowed me to move to the city of my dreams, and I'm able to save more. I used to always think having a car meant freedom but since selling it, I feel like I have more freedom than ever. At the time, having a car was really weighing down on me financially. I was spending $600.00 a month on gas, insurance, car payments, and maintenance.
After selling my car, I bought a membership for Zipcar but never used it. I think I'm at the point now where I could never drive again. It's strange, because I used to love driving.
Questions:
1. How many of you are carless? Is this by choice?
2. For those of you with cars, would you ever consider living without a car? Why or why not?
I'm really curious because for the longest time, everyone thought I was crazy! I thought I was too at first. I never thought of living without a car and if you met me a couple years ago and told me, I would have laughed.
I am carless, and it is by choice. I could afford a car, but I choose not to own one, because I'd rather save the money that owning a car would cost me. Granted, I live in a city, a fairly large city (Pittsburgh, PA), so I really don't need a car. If you live in a rural area, I expect you need a car. Even in you live in the suburbs, I imagine getting by without a car can be a tremendous challenge--if not impossible. If, however, you live in the city like I do, you can utilize public transportation and your feet. It will save you a lot of money and keep you in good shape as well.
this post makes no sense. it seems like you only posted to call me out instead of discussing being carless. unless i skimmed over other posts you've made in the thread(which were most likely also useless).
the post makes perfect sense. once again, you are having issues understanding things and blaming others for your shortcomings. you are correct, I called you out because I find the attitude of "everyone else sucks at driving" to be obnoxious. some people just like to be miserable and pretend that everything is so terrible. there are plenty of bad drivers out there, but the majority of people are decent enough drivers.
Unfortunately, most of the people that I know who live "car free" are always BUMMING rides off of their friends WITH vehicles. The same people never seem to be willing to chip in the $5 or $10 for THEIR share of the gasoline.
In other words, "no I will NOT drive you to the Home Depot to pick up all the things you cannot carry on the bus."
You know my pain! Especially those friends who expect cab service on their schedule and a loader.
my wife never had a car. she found her way around just fine for more than 50 years . never wanted a car ,needed a car or had a car.
well needless to say when i came into the picture all that went away. now if we take the 18 minute train ride into manhattan she wants to know why we aren't driving.
Cars are only truly necessary if you live in rural areas, or suburbs beyond inner-ring suburbs, where bus service is non-existent or horrible. Remember, a vehicle is one of the worst investments you can possibly make. Very little depreciates faster, and about the only thing that will ever cost you more in your life is a house (which will likely appreciate over time). So, you're investing a large sum of money and watching it turn into a small sum of money very, very quickly--and besides that, you have all the costs associated with insurance, repairs, and maintenance to further consume your resources, which are likely limited if you're like most Americans.
Cars are only truly necessary if you live in rural areas, or suburbs beyond inner-ring suburbs, where bus service is non-existent or horrible. Remember, a vehicle is one of the worst investments you can possibly make. Very little depreciates faster, and about the only thing that will ever cost you more in your life is a house (which will likely appreciate over time). So, you're investing a large sum of money and watching it turn into a small sum of money very, very quickly--and besides that, you have all the costs associated with insurance, repairs, and maintenance to further consume your resources, which are likely limited if you're like most Americans.
Or you live in a city with very limited or no bus service, particularly on week-ends/holidays. Try it some time.
I would definitely consider giving up my car. However, I would probably keep some form of transportation around for emergencies or for when I don't feel like catching the bus. Another option would be sharing a car with my significant other.
It's really not that expensive to own a ~10-15 year old car that's driven 3-4k miles per year.
Or you live in a city with very limited or no bus service, particularly on week-ends/holidays. Try it some time.
I agree with you. I remember when my car broke down in a Cleveland close in suburb a few years back. The last bus on a Saturday evening was 5 pm. I walked three miles to get to a train station that got me home.
The ONLY other option was a taxi ... and the dispatcher promised that the wait was ONLY 3.5 hours.
The last bus to my area arrives at 3 pm on Saturday, Sunday, and holidays.
Cars are only truly necessary if you live in rural areas, or suburbs beyond inner-ring suburbs, where bus service is non-existent or horrible. Remember, a vehicle is one of the worst investments you can possibly make. Very little depreciates faster, and about the only thing that will ever cost you more in your life is a house (which will likely appreciate over time). So, you're investing a large sum of money and watching it turn into a small sum of money very, very quickly--and besides that, you have all the costs associated with insurance, repairs, and maintenance to further consume your resources, which are likely limited if you're like most Americans.
Cars also become necessary if you work at a place that doesn't have bus service when you need it (or at all).
Then you also have to consider your lifestyle. For example I take a lot of road trips to visit friends and family. Even if they live in a big city, driving can still be the most practical option. Heck, even in my own metro area it would be impractical to visit people without a car in a lot of cases.
And in some out of the ordinary it's nice to have, too. After I had dental surgery I was glad to be driving myself home instead of waiting on a bus or even using a taxi.
I suppose I'm biased a bit since I own my car outright so it's hard to convince myself to get rid of it even though I use the bus and walk more often than I drive. Whenever my car has it's first major issue i'll have to re-evaluate my situation and see if I should go from car-light to car-free.
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